Smoktech Winder VV eGo Type Batteries

[BlueDogs]

Don't have a Winder, but several Spinners. One from smoktek before they started the new name.

On them, the button light, after some initial flashing, stays on for a while when first connected to the charger, and my chargers will periodically blink red / green / red as the battery approaches full charge.

Thanks for the info! My Twists and even my mod batteries do that as well as they are close to getting full. However, this is happening as soon as I connect it and I definitely vaped that thing down to nothing as I used it heavily starting from early yesterday afternoon through last night and an hour or more this morning before it flashed the signal that the battery was drained. I've just never seen the power button light on the battery itself stay lit steadily while on a charger before and was worried that the charger and batter were not compatible with each other and some type of weird short or charge back was going on.

I know very little if close to nothing about circuitry and internal components so quickly unplugged it until I got some feedback on the matter. LOL The description on the website I bought it from said it worked with a standard Ego charger and that is what I had it hooked up to so I will try it again and see if the power button light on the battery doesn't go back off again if I wait a bit longer. I do like the battery very much and it seems to feel as if it has a bit more "oomph" than a Twist. Not as much as any of my larger mods but a difference I can tell nonetheless.

Also I so appreciate the easy to read numbers although I think I will take the advice of another poster here and find some red nail polish to make it more noticeable. It seems that my battery only received a partial red dot as it is very tiny, almost impossible to see except under bright light and looking closely. At first when I was checking it out after opening the mailing envelope I didn't think it had one at all! LOL So far this small and easily fixable issue seems to be the only problem I've encountered with it thus far. (well except for the panic attack it gave me when I tried to charge it earlier LOL)

Goodness knows I have enough broken Ego's put away, including a Twist who's button got jammed after being dropped off my lap and getting stepped on yesterday. It was very fixable until I attempted to do it myself and ended up destroying the button completely. Should have checked this forum first. First thing I see is a sticky addressing this exact issue. Sigh.....

Oh well, some modder somewhere might be interested in all of my broken devices for parts. I have 2 VV Grippers (3 actually but somehow got one of them working again the other day) one of which simply refuses to acknowledge any carto or tank any longer and stubbornly reports back either 0.0 or 9.9 and the other is in a bit worse shape after I tightened an Ego adaptor into it too much and then breaking it loose with needle nosed pliers caused it's early demise. The sunken threading piece broke loose from the case or circuit board or whatever it is attached to consequently disconnecting either one or more internal wires or other type connection (I'm assuming as it wouldn't even turn on after that LOL), then my hubby finished it off by opening it up to see if he could fix it (he doesn't vape nor knows anything about these devices).

I also have one of the first Ego VV batteries that offered 3 whole settings (color coded with red and blue lights), which BTW still works, or would if I owned and knew how to use a soldering iron (I can press the internal button on the circuit board and it still comes on and lights up, I long ago accidently pulled too hard on a carto that I thought was completely unscrewed but wasn't and pulled the cap piece with the threading right off. Wires popped off that piece but everything looks intact.

I also have an E-Vic with a dead control head.... NOT happy about THAT. A lot of money for 5 weeks of usage and considering I own many other devices it really didn't get used that much during that time! I need to hunt for a thread on that too, maybe it's an easy fix? The screen did a lot of flickering, weakly lighting up, and just plain refusing to come on for almost two weeks before it just quit coming on at all. Not even when plugged in and charging,which right before it died for good was the only way to get the control head to acknowledge the 5 button click. Ruled out a faulty battery by buying a replacement first and getting the same results with both batteries. I believe the hardware was faulty from the beginning because the software never was able to "see" the device even though when I plugged it into my USB port my computer made the sound effect when a USB device is plugged in and the control head would say "Uploading....charging" every time.

I did find it as cheap as $58 for a replacement but bought a $12 Ego Mod control head last week for it and that was a huge mistake. I am too used to VV at this point to go back to a one setting battery. I tried several tank set ups on it before putting it away in a drawer in disgust. Hence the purchase of the Winder.

~Darlene~

 

[BillyTheWild]

FWIW, I have 2 Winder and I use a Joyetech USB charger for them and this is how they behave:

Whenever you connect the Winder to the charger or disconnect from it, the Winder's button will blink 2 or 3 flashes. This is normal. It is to indicate that the batty has made contact with or is disconnected from the charger.

So, when you charge it, after the initial flashes, the button light will go off for a second. Then it comes back on and stays on.
At the same time, on the charger, the LEDturns red and it stays red, except that 1 green blink will come on every 5 or 6 seconds. This happens when I charge my Joye Twist also.

However, here is the confusing part. According to one vendor, the button light on the Winder will stay on all the way until it is fully charged. And when it is fully charged, the button light will flash 2 or 3 times and then it goes off. On mine, the Winder's button light does flashes and then goes off at this time, however, the weird thing is that although the LED on the charger does turn green at this points - as it should - but it doesn't stay green for long. As soon as the button light on the Winder finishes flashing, the charger LED goes back to red with the green blink like it is still charging. So I am not sure whether or not at this point the Winder has actually finished charging or not. The funny thing is that the charger LED will eventually turn solid green after another 2 hours. I believe that the Winder is fully charged when the button gives those flashes at the end b/c the time spent charging it is about right.

And finally, as mentioned before, when you disconnect the Winder from the charger, the button will flashes again simply to indicate it has lost connection with the charger.

 

[BlueDogs]

FWIW, I have 2 Winder and I use a Joyetech USB charger for them and this is how they behave:

Whenever you connect the Winder to the charger or disconnect from it, the Winder's button will blink 2 or 3 flashes. This is normal. It is to indicate that the batty has made contact with or is disconnected from the charger.

So, when you charge it, after the initial flashes, the button light will go off for a second. Then it comes back on and stays on.
At the same time, on the charger, the LEDturns red and it stays red, except that 1 green blink will come on every 5 or 6 seconds. This happens when I charge my Joye Twist also.

However, here is the confusing part. According to one vendor, the button light on the Winder will stay on all the way until it is fully charged. And when it is fully charged, the button light will flash 2 or 3 times and then it goes off. On mine, the Winder's button light does flashes and then goes off at this time, however, the weird thing is that although the LED on the charger does turn green at this points - as it should - but it doesn't stay green for long. As soon as the button light on the Winder finishes flashing, the charger LED goes back to red with the green blink like it is still charging. So I am not sure whether or not at this point the Winder has actually finished charging or not. The funny thing is that the charger LED will eventually turn solid green after another 2 hours. I believe that the Winder is fully charged when the button gives those flashes at the end b/c the time spent charging it is about right.

And finally, as mentioned before, when you disconnect the Winder from the charger, the button will flashes again simply to indicate it has lost connection with the charger.

Thank you so much for the information regarding that the button will indeed stay lit on the battery while charging and that this is normal!! What a relief! I have it plugged in now as soon as I read your post! Thanks again!!

~Darlene~

 

[iceman68]

I have a Winder also and it acts exactly the same as described. I wasn't sure whether it was fully charged when the button light went off or when the charger light turned solid green. Sometimes I wait for the green light but maybe that's not necessary.

So thanks BlueDogs for the question, and Billy for the answer.

 

[Mad Scientist]

The spinner has a 2 phase charging process from discharged to full charge. In phase 1, the button LED will stay lit until phase 2 when it will go out and finish the last bit of charge (presumably at a lower charge current). It is fully charged when the charger light stays green. I have a spinner and three twists. Like them all but prefer the markings On the spinner (much easier to read).

 

[BillyTheWild]

The spinner has a 2 phase charging process from discharged to full charge. In phase 1, the button LED will stay lit until phase 2 when it will go out and finish the last bit of charge (presumably at a lower charge current). It is fully charged when the charger light stays green.

I am now thinking that it's the same way with the Winder.

Also, just notice that when the Winder's button flashes 3 (?) times while in use (i.e., not being charged), it is warning you that the charge is getting low and it needs to be charged soon. This is a lot better than the Twist which has no warning, it just flashes rapidly all at a sudden and then dies on you.

So far I am liking the Winder a lot better than the Twist - I kinda regret that I paid close to twice as much for the Twist.

 

[iceman68]

Also, just notice that when the Winder's button flashes 3 (?) times while in use (i.e., not being charged), it is warning you that the charge is getting low and it needs to be charged soon. This is a lot better than the Twist which has no warning, it just flashes rapidly all at a sudden and then dies on you.

More good information I wasn't aware of. My Winder battery came with no instructions at all, which I thought was odd. Glad I saw this thread. I just assumed that when the Winder button flashed during use it was dead, just like my eGo fixed voltage batts. This is good because it's better to recharge your batteries before they are fully discharged.

 

[BillyTheWild]

My Winder come with no instructions either.

I just tested it out. After the 3 flashes indicating low battery charge, I can take a little over 20 puffs out of it until it flashes rapidly and then dies.

 

[GetVaked]

Just purchased a deep 'blood' red Smoktech Winder from my local vape shop today along with some 1.5ohm long barreled bridgeless Stingray atomizers. Amazing combo, anyhow, quality seems good. The dial notches are more precise and clear as my previous Vision Spinner, if you want to set it, say, 4.3v, there is no missing it. I am enjoying it, my Vision Spinner lasted about 6 months before the button fell into the body and was un-repairable. ( I had repaired it a couple other times.)

Definitely a good purchase at 25$. Also, I wrapped some clear tape around the voltage settings to preserve the paint, you can hardly tell it is there.

 

[OBDave]

Aargh...why did this thread have to get bumped now? I've got some 900mah winders sitting in my cart at Vaportek for $16 and change (........ deal), trying to talk myself out of pulling the trigger and being content with my standard batteries for a few months, but here you guys go saying good things about them and I'm tempted to start typing in a credit card number...

 

[DocRokRx]

sorry... new to egos...
I have 2 winders, and I have noticed it flashing 3ish times at the end of a toot (not a particularly long toot either). this means the charge is getting low? and then when you try to fire it and it flashes 15ish times, that's your signal that its time to recharge?
I ask this because i got the 15ish flash way earlier than I was expecting compared to the first charge. But maybe I didn't charge it fully ( i too was confused by the "button light off, charger light red" situation)

 

[Bob Chill]

Flashing at the end is the cutoff. I'm not sure how many seconds are built in. I hit it sometimes on mine (smoktech 1100mah winder).

Not sure about the time to charge flash. I use mine as a backup so I never run it low. My 1100 lasts a good 10 hours even when I'm vaping a lot.

 

[DavidOck]

Don't have a winder, but a few Spinners and other ego batts.

Charger light will probably go steady green when the battery is fully charged. So maybe you didn't get it fully charged, as you suspect

 

[Midnight Toker]

I just got 2 of the 900 mah by Smok. Not as impressed as I hoped I'd be. Both hit the cutoff way earlier than my standard Ego batteries. One of them has a button that sticks so have to depress it a certain way to keep it from sticking. I do like the variable voltage though, just wish the cutoff was same as my other bats.

 

[iceman68]

Just received a Winder 1300mAh battery and was surprised to see that it is shorter(by 1/2 an inch) and thicker than my 1100mAh model. I wasn't really thinking about size difference when I ordered it but it's kinda nice, especially if you stand your unit upright. The thicker/shorter battery makes for a more stable base providing your clearo or tank isn't too large (I use a kanger T2 or EVOD).

Another nice thing is the 1300 battery is blue and the voltage designation numbers are white, and in slightly larger print, which makes the numbers stand out much more clearly and thus are easier to read. My 1100mAh Winder is stainless with black numbers which are harder to see.

Just some info for anyone considering a Winder battery.

 

[Racehorse]

IMHO, Joyetech has the safest battery out there, so I never worry about them, you would not be able to blow one up if you tried. They have this patented, but nobody knows what the secret is.

So I guess I stick with Joyetech, and I'm not going to trade quality build for something like "easier to read dial" when a small dab of red nail polish will fix that.

 

[PLANofMAN]

Since I started this thread, I figured I ought to update you all.

My Winder died a couple of months ago. My fault, I had it in my pocket and the head popped off and pulled the wires out with it. I probably would have gotten another couple of months out of it if that hadn't happened. It lasted a good three months longer than the other eGo type mods I've purchased, so I'll say it was worth getting.

 

[DavidOck]

Sorry to hear of the untimely death

And how long did it actually go? In daily use, or rotation?

 

[PLANofMAN]

It went for about six months, in daily use along with a ProVari. Now I'm down to just the ProVari, though I'm looking at the CHammer mod right now. Might be time to give mechs a go.

 

[DavidOck]

Wonder how much longer it would have gone if you hadn't beheaded it

One of my 1300 Spinners is almost a year, but in rotation with other devices, and now it (and my other ego styles) are carried as backup and flavor changes. I'm beginning to believe the "average" 250 - 300 recharges is a relatively honest average. (Of course, average is just that. One could last a day, another 5 years, and the average is 2 1/2 years...)

I periodically look at mechs, but l like the easy vape adjustment of VV/VW too much. And getting a mech to put in a Kick just seems crazy to me. Especially since you then have to take it apart to adjust...